Tourist Season

We had some friends come in to town last night and after dinner we took them on a little walk through town. It was a beautiful evening, skies were clear, the sun was setting, the harbor was calm. Perfect.

It's evenings like those that I love my little town. It's evenings like that, that I love living in Maine.

As we roamed the village one thing was very clear though, it is tourist season in Maine.

If you have friends and family coming to see you this summer and they are looking for souvenirs of their trip, remember that Judy's has gifts and all sorts of Maine themed items. In fact we currently have a whole little area dedicated to our Maine items. Stop in and see what we have. And, really, you don't have to be a tourist to enjoy tourist season.

Work It Wednesday - Vellum

I've been sorting out supplies and old layouts and stumbled on this really basic, almost-too-simple, little gem. I had to do this for an assignment back in 2004 for Simple Scrapbooks magazine. I don't remember what the specifics of the assignment were but looking at this layout sparked my idea for today's Work It Wednesday. So, I ask you - got Vellum?

I'm not a regular vellum user. However, it certainly has it's charms. You can use it for many different things including using it as a defusing/softening agent. The background for the layout above was made by just layering stripes of paper on top of a piece of plum cardstock. The problem though, was that the stripes were too bright and they over powered the photo. By placing the vellum on top of the layout it still allowed the stripes to show but it softened them and allowed the photo to shine as the focus. You can see the difference the vellum makes on the detail shot to the right.

You can do this little trick with any paper you have have. Here's some of the new paper that we just got in stock. I love this paper and I think it stands on it's own just fine but here's what it looks like with the vellum on it.


The vellum just adds a softer touch. I used this paper and vellum to create a little layout about my dad. Flowers aren't really his thing but since the layout was really for me, I wanted to use this paper anyway. The vellum takes the contrast down a notch so the pattern doesn't look so girly but it also still allows the colors and design to show through.


For Work It Wednesday I challenge you to find some paper that maybe is a bit bright or bold and make a layout with it using vellum as your softening agent - I think you'll be happy with the results.

Enjoy!
Amy

I'm going to....

... Disneyland!

Well, I'm not but David Cook, the new American Idol winner, is and maybe you are too. If so, we wanted you to know that we have some new diecuts in stock. The great thing about these is their size, they are LARGE diecuts, and range in size from 2 to 5 inches tall. Enjoy!

Product Pick of the day

Here is the product pick of the week: The Scor-It Mini

We showed these in a collage of new products a few weeks back however, since then, Judy has had the opportunity to use it and she absolutely LOVES IT! And, we think you guys will love it too, especially our card makers.

If you've ever had trouble using the scoring blade on your trimmer or trying to find a stylus than you know how cool it is to finally have something that works. We've already sold out of first shipment and our second shipment arrived this week. If you'd like to see it in action stop into the store and Judy can give you a little demo - it's really easy to use and a definite must have.

Graduation

Will you be celebrating a graduation with friends and family this year?

Graduations are just around the corner and we just want to remind you that we have graduation themed items for your scrapbook pages and card making needs. Plus, don't forget to check out our gift shop for a quick gift as well.

Congrats to all our graduates!

Work It Wednesday - May 21

I mentioned yesterday that we have more new papers to show, and we do have a lot of it. Here is another photo of some more of the new styles, these are all cooking themed. (Isn't the ginger bread man paper cute?) Since it is Work It Wednesday I wanted to show a quick way to use the label paper in the very front of this photo, plus this idea can be used with other papers too.


I have to be honest and admit that for scrapbooking, I personally, would never buy this paper. For scrapbooking, it's not my style. But I was immediately drawn to it and I do really like it so I challenged myself to use it and this is were Work It Wednesday comes in. Remember way back, I think it was even the first Work It Wednesday post and I showed what I do with my scraps? (If you missed that, you can check it out here) I pulled out my basket of scraps, grabbed this paper shown and in a half an hour I had six cards and some clever gift tags whipped up and ready to give away.

Sometimes you can take your 12x12 papers and depending on their styles cut them down to make little pieces of art work out of them. I did this with the paper shown and these are the cards I made in a matter of minutes.


After the cards were all made, I still had 6 left over labels so I turned some of them into tags that I can use when I give away little treats. Like, salsa - ever given salsa as a gift? Me neither, however, how cute would this be to make your own tag, add a bag a chips and just drop off a snack to someone for no reason.

Maybe you don't have this sheet of paper in your paper stash but I bet you have something similar that could be cut down and turned quickly into several cards or tags. Go see what you have on hand and make something with it. And, if you have nothing good to use, go buy one sheet of this paper and have fun playing with it - I did. The best part about all this is now I have 6 cards that I can package in a set and give away as a gift pack of pre-made cards or I have 6 cards on hand, ready for me to use whenever needed.

Enjoy!
Amy

Happy Tuesday everyone! We have restocked our stars. They were a big hit around Christmas time and we happy to have more in time for the Fourth of July. The stars come in black and you can leave them as is or add some of your favorite papers to them.

And, speaking of papers, I promised I'd show you some of our new arrivals, so here they are:

Aren't they awesome! There is more but I'm saving one of them for tomorrow's work it Wednesday! See you then.
Amy

Mouse in the House

House-Mouse is
back in the House!

This set of cute little stickers is one of our most popular selling House-Mouse items. And, we are happy to report that they are back in stock.

Enjoy!

Undo

We've had a great week and have been busy trying to find places on the floor for all of the new product that has recently come in. I can't wait to show you all the new paper we've stocked up on - you're going to love them. But for now, we just wanted to quickly let you know that we have in the new Undo. Undo was pulled from the self awhile back and it wasn't allowed to be sold. It's back now and we have it. So, if you need an adhesive remover, we've got it for you.

Work It Wednesday - Flowers

As mentioned yesterday, today's Work It Wednesday is all about flowers. If you dig through your stash of supplies I'm pretty certain you'll find all kinds of flowers. Flowers are everywhere in paper crafting right now, from paper to die-cuts, or stickers and stamps - you're bound to find a flower if you look. So, what are some different ways to use them. Earlier in the year we talked about grouping them to make a bouquet, that's easy. Here are some other ideas that will help you use flowers:

I showed the cover of this little album yesterday as the little yellow flower came from the package of Posies that I featured. I'm showing it again because here is your first idea; use a flower as a "peek-a-boo" feature on your project. You can do this on a card, mini album or a layout. On this little album, you see a part of the flower showing through on the front cover and the rest of the flower when you open it.

Another idea is to take your flower and cut it in half. That way you can use both halves to create a design or back ground on your page.


Make a border - borders are a great way to define your focal point area and incorporating flowers into that is really simple. Just line them up and adhere them in place and you've got an easy and attractive page border.


If you have a flower print paper that you love but it might be too overwhelming to use on it's own, cut out the flowers and use them as page accents. That is what I did here. I love the way the single flowers complements everything else on the page.

And, last but not least, when using a die-cut or sticker flower, think of ways to dress it up. A simple button in the center adds dimension and add fabric, floss or twine for the stem. Here I used brads to make the stem but instead of securing them into the page, I opened the arms of the brad up and used a mini glue dot to hold them in place. This gave my flower a unique look.

So there you have for today. I hope you have a wonderful day that is blooming with creative ideas - Enjoy!
Amy

Spring

We have flowers popping up almost everywhere down here. They are so beautiful and because of that, I thought we should carry on the flower theme from Sunday's post and show you a couple of my new favorite things:

These are called Posies and are really the most awesome die-cut flower that is out there. I love that you get 50 in a pack and they come in several different styles of flowers. Plus you get different sizes of each style so one package really goes a long way. I used some of the yellow flowers in one of the kits we've been selling at the store, here's a peek at the front cover. And, for Work It Wednesday tomorrow I'll show you some other fun things you can do with flowers, stay tuned......

Happy Mother's Day!

We've made it to the end of the week and Mother's day is finally here. I wanted to share one last quick little project that you can do, or let your kids do, for someone special.

Our grandma's live in another state so we spent an afternoon making them an edible bouquet of flowers. Took a photo of the completed creation and then, without any hesitation, we quickly ate the bouquet.

Yes, I know they were intended for grandmas but the truth is, they'd never survive in shipping. So, what we did instead, after we ate them of course, was gathered up all the ingredients, packaged it all up, included a little instruction book and sent them on their way.

Here's what the contents of their gift box looked like.

And, should you want to make some flowers yourself, here's what you'll need:

1 - flower pot
flower foam
bbq skewers
1 pkg - small gumdrops
1 pkg - Keebler fudge striped cookies
1 pkg - Shortbread cookies shaped like flowers

Add one gumdrop to a skewer pushing it down about 3/4 an inch. Put cookie on top of gumdrop and then add another gumdrop on top of cookie. Make as many flowers as needed to assemble a bouquet in the flower pot. Tip: to get the flowers to look nice in the pot I did trim some of the skewers to make them different lengths.

Enjoy! and, happy Mother's Day to you all!
Amy

Only two more days...

This week has really flown by. We've had so many things to share with you, so many ideas for gifts for mom and here it is Friday and our time is quickly passing. So, here are just some really quick, last minute gifts that you could give to mom.

The collage to the right shows three different kinds of candles that we currently have in stock. In the top photo are Primitive candles - they are hand-crafted and smell so great. The middle photo are some more contemporary styles with unique flavors like white chocolate raspberry cheesecake.... doesn't that sound yummy?! And the bottom photo are the country store type and we have a great selection of sizes and flavors.

And, just a few other things that are great last minute gift items. We carry several different types and styles of jewelry as well as fun baskets in all different sizes. If you need a last minute gift be sure to stop in and check out our other items - we've got lots of great things for mom!

It's a sign...

We've featured some wooded signs on our blog before. If you remember they had town names on them like Orono, Old Town, etc. Those are great gifts too but I wanted to share this one all on it's own. Since Mothers are generally focused on their family, this sign would be great for a family-loving mom.

And, just because I want to fill you with random info, every time I look at this sign I am reminded of an acronym that Judy told me stands for the word family. Family is Father And Mother - I Love You! Isn't that sweet.

Enjoy your Thursday!
Amy

Wednesday - Part 2

Seeing Glad containers on the blog probably wasn't what you were expecting. However, this is my inspiration for today's work it Wednesday. Have you ever looked at something and instantly known that it could be something else? Well, that's what happened to me. If you take out the little plastic containers you can totally reuse the packaging to make a super cute little candy dispenser. Here's a visual:


I didn't included the step-by-step process today because it's really pretty easy to do. You just cover the packaging with paper, cut out the circles, add some transparency to the circle openings on the front and then decorate. I also kept the little oval on the top as a way for the candy to be dispensed.

Just think about it, with a little creative imagination you can take this packaging and reuse it in any number of ways. Besides being a candy dispenser for Mother's Day it could also be a bank so kids could see their money accumulating.

There is a great quote I love that says, "Once in awhile it really hits people that they don't have to experience the world in the way they have been told to." I think that is my point for this post. Like all Work It Wednesdays I just want to show you a new way to use your supplies and try something new.

Enjoy,
Amy

P.S. if you like the paper I used, it's by Karen Foster - It's double sided and has a really cute stripe on the other side. It's in stock now.

Wednesday - Part 1

Today is Work it Wednesday and I've got a fun little project to show you however, with Mother's day just a few more days away we also want to feature some gift giving ideas. So, like yesterday, I will post two post today. Here's your first one:

As most of you know Judy's is more than just a scrapbook store. We have a great gift selection that features a lot of local crafters and local products. This is something we are passionate about. We like supporting our community and we are pretty sure you do to. Today we are featuring some great gift baskets that are filled with only Maine products. If your mom is one of those women who already "has everything" than these baskets are a great gift idea for her. Here's some of the details about each basket:

1- Breakfast Basket - Comes with a biscuit mix, strawberry jam, tea, a linen towel and a spread knife.

2- Washington County Basket - All these products are made in Washington county, Kippers, Blueberry jam, syrup, mapled peanuts, chowder, granola, Rays mustard, sea salt and a yummy sweet treat

3 - Seafood Basket - Clam chowder, kippers, tartar sauce, sea salt, oyster crackers and wicked good chocolate fudge.

4- Italian Bowl - This comes in a beautiful ceramic bowl and is filled with tomato sauce, pasta, Italian snack sticks, Blueberry-cranberry clusters, two cheese spreads, nuts, and a linen towel.

Again, all of these gift packs are filled with Maine items. If you'd like more information about them you can call or stop by the store.

And, check back this afternoon for Work It Wednesday!
Amy

Tuesday - Part 2

My camera is fully charged and is ready to go so without further delay, here is another Mother's day idea. Actually, you could do this for just about any holiday or just as a fun thing for yourself.

This is a 4x6 wall hanging that is a snap to make. I used only one of the board book pages that comes in the package shown below, you get 6 total so you could make 6 of these in no time at all and for minimal cost too.

Grab a favorite photo, no need to have one special printed, just use one you already have. Mount it to the board page and decorate as desired. Then punch a hole (the board page has one previous punched for you) and add your ribbon so it can hang. See, it's that's simple.

Check back tomorrow for Work it Wednesday, I dare say it's one of my favorite creations to date.

Enjoy,
Amy

P.S. - these are the board pages I used for the wall hanging. They come in a set of 6 and are very reasonably priced so you can make a mini album out of them but I like to use them individually too.

Tuesday - Part 1

I have another little mother's day project idea to share today however I have to wait until my camera battery recharges before I can share it with you. In the mean time though, I thought I'd showcase an item that you can pick up, no assembly required - which means quick and easy - for mom.

These beautiful braided rugs are hand-crafted locally and they come in different sizes and shapes. Any mom or grandma would love one.

Check back later today for the project of the day. I'll be showing some little wall hangings you can whip up as cute little gifts.

Amy

Monday's Mother's Day idea

This layout may look familiar to some of you. We made this in a class a few years back, I think the class was on textures or paint or something like that. It doesn't really matter though as this post is meant to give you some ideas on things you can make for Mother's day. So, you can do a few things with this post:

1 - use the layout as an idea for a layout of your own. Since there aren't any pictures on it, it's really easy to break it down and turn it into a sketch or blueprint for a layout of your own.

2- Duplicate the layout and add photos and either keep it for yourself or give it to your mom as a tribute to her.

3 - Use a layout you have on hand as an idea starter to create a card. You can shrink the scheme of that layout and turn it into a card really easily. If the layout is 2 pages, just take one side and use it as your guide.

4- Go through your stash of old class layouts and see if you have any layouts that you haven't added photos to. If you do, add the photos or take the layout apart and use the items on it to make something else. Like a card.

For me, I went with idea #4 and turned the layout into a card. It was pretty easy to do as all the pieces were there for me. The card I came up with is shown in the photo above. It was quick and easy and I love quick and easy.

What will you come up with for your moms? If you've got a project you'd like to share, I'd love to show it on the blog. Email it to me. (email address is listed under store info)

Smiles,
Amy

One Week and counting....

Mother's day is exactly one week from today and I have several "mother's day" related things to show you all week. Fun little projects you can do, cards you can make and just ideas that will hopefully get you thinking about celebrating Mother's day. Not to get too personal on you, but my own mother past away when I was only 9 years old. So, my concept of mother's day may be completely different from yours however, I do recognize other women who have been important in my life and I use Mother's day to honor them. I also use the day to celebrate my own role as a mother. So, however you celebrate the upcoming day, I hope you can tweak the ideas shared this week and put them to good use.

Awhile back I took several photos of gift items that we have for sell in the shop. Some of those photos I have already shared but others I've been hanging on too until this week. The photos I will share this week are great gift ideas for mom's but they also served as great memory triggers for me. This photo, when I uploaded it to my computer did just that. The handmade soaps triggered a memory of my grandma.

My grandma, Mabel Marie Checketts, was a great cook, a kind woman and she always had the prettiest soaps in her bathroom. I remember those soaps always smelled so good and I used to love rearranging them in their dish every time I used her bathroom. This may seam like a silly little thing to remember but I'm so grateful I was reminded of this little detail that made my grandma the person she was. Remembering those little life details is why I started scrapbooking - I didn't want to forget.

So, for today, I encourage you to think of something, a little detail about your mother, grandmother, aunt or an other important woman in your life and scrapbook it. Or make them a card and share that specific memory with them.

I truly believe one of the best ways to honor someone is to remember the details that make up their life.

Amy

P.S. The soaps shown above are available for purchase in the store. Not only do they make great gifts for mom's but they are a nice treat to pamper yourself too. They come in an array of colors, flavors and smells.

More new products

We've been stocking the shelves again and want to share the items that we've received. A few of you have asked for these items so we are really excited that they are in. (click on the image to see the items larger)

1 - Colored UTEE - Holy cow, this is cool! We have Blue Iris and platinum plus we've restocked on our basics like black and clear.

2- A new trend right now is carving your own stamps. We've now got the supplies in so you can try this out.

3 - Ok, I know it's just my own opinion but I think this product is really groovy. These are faux wax sticks that you use in a glue gun. They give you wax seals without the mess.

4- These are a favorite of our card makers as they are some of the easiest rub-ons to use. And, the variety of sayings in each packages is awesome.

5- Scor-It-Mini. If you do a lot of folding for cards or paper crafting and have trouble with using your scoring blades than this is worth checking out. It's a professional quality scoring system that scores high (sorry for the pun) on our list.

And, last but not least, we've got new colors of Perfect Pearls and a new Cat's Eye chalk adapter and chalks.

New products

Here are just a few of the new things we've put out on the shelves lately.

1 - More awesome acrylic $1 stamps
2- Corner rounders
3- Amazing travel items like these Seaworld papers and stickers
4 - Snap Ease embellishments - these are easy to use, cool little embellishments
5- Sports page accents. We have track and field themes in these styles too.

and not included in the collage above but shown below, are these photo frames. They aren't just your everyday photo frames though, these are made from used Hockey sticks.... seriously! How cool is that?!!!